


Tales from the Belt

by Nourgelitnius (Ladysarah)



Category: The Expanse (TV), The Expanse Series - James S. A. Corey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, One Shot Collection
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-07-29 16:03:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7690888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladysarah/pseuds/Nourgelitnius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of disconnected one-shots for The Expanse.</p><p>1. Naomi/Amos - Coffee Shop AU<br/>2. Bobbie/Alex - I'm Not Afraid<br/>3. Joe/Julie - Don't Say a Word<br/>4. Joe/Julie - Only If For A Night<br/>5. Bobbie/Alex - Driving the Razorback - Modern AU<br/>6. Bobbie/Alex - Cowboy<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Namos Coffee Shop AU

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr rebloggable version with picset [here](http://www.goo.gl/kpsVXF)

The Rocinante might very well be the only biker coffee shop in the country, but it had over time become one of Naomi’s favorite places to spend the day coding.

The space was full of masculine metal lines and gelled seats that molded around your form like it was cushioning you from earths gravity without being mistaken as too soft. The spacious parking in the front had plenty of room for the hogs and gruff riders that naturally found themselves at Holden’s door.

And then there was the coffee. The coffee was to die for.

It might have something to do with the almost obsessive nature Holden had about finding quality beans. He’d developed and fine tuned a system of roasting for each type of bean. He sniffed and ground and sipped and sighed daily.

His partner, Alex, wasn’t much better when it came to the machinery they used. The caresses and soft Texan tones he used when speaking to the espresso machine could only be described as erotic. Whenever one of them started acting up he would coddle it like it was a scorned lover that needed to be won back.

But the best thing, Naomi thought as she entered one last line of code before sitting back to give her aching shoulders and tired eyes a rest, was how quiet it was. There was no need for ambient, alternative rock floating over the speaker system. The people who came into Holden’s came for the coffee, the free WiFi, and the silence.

Naomi stretched her shoulders and took a look around the shop, considering if she wanted to get one of Alex’s brownies while she took some time away from the screen, when she noticed a sturdy man sitting in the far corner with a large simple cup of coffee, staring with mild interest at one of the muted TVs that bordered the top of the walls.

Holden’s, being a coffee shop that somehow had become a haven for lone riders on what was most assuredly the more classed up side of town, was used to being a landing pad to the Starbucks rejects. She’d seen more than her fair share of men who looked like they were built from solid rock, but they never seemed as effortlessly still as this man.

Naomi couldn’t help but give him an extra look over as he stared at the program on the TV. His hair was buzzed, a couple days worth of stubble coating his jaw, and his skin clear except for the light shadow of a bruise along the back of his jaw. But his eyes were bright blue and his eyelashes long. The only thing keeping him from being a pretty sort of man was the shear size of him.

Naomi, having sized up the man and feeling the need for another round of espressos, was convincing herself that one more moment of looking wouldn’t do any harm, when his eyes flickered to hers, almost as if he sensed her gaze. They both sat still in their seats, looking at each other for several moments before he gave her a nod so small she could have imagined it, took a sip of his coffee, and turned his clear eyes back to the news.

Shaking off the feeling of his gaze, she grabbed her card and walked up to the counter where Holden was already putting together another series of espresso shots for her next round of fixing the program she had been commissioned to work on.

“Here you go, Naomi. Anything else?” Holden wiped his hands and smiled his full smile at her, always so happy behind the counter with his beans.

“Yeah, get me one of Alex’s brownies, will you?” Alex, overhearing their conversation, nodded to them as he opened the case to get her order.

“Hey, Holden?” She brought her voice down to almost a whisper and leaned over the counter before he could walk away. He raised an eyebrow in curiosity. “You know that guy over there?”

He looked as she nodded over her shoulder in the mans direction.

“Amos? What about him?” His back straightened and his face took on a serious quality. “Is he bothering you?”

A lot could be said about Holden, and lots _had_ been said about him, but one thing was for sure: If Jim Holden considered you one of his family, he protected you at all cost. It was endearing, if at times a little too much.

“Na,” she smiled, thanking Alex for the brownie placed in front of her. “Just curious.”

 

~

 

It was almost closing and as much as Naomi wishes she could spend all night in her little corner working, she knew that if she didn’t get home soon and onto regular coffee, the temptation to keep knocking back espressos would win over her desire to get any kind of sleep tonight.

Programming and espresso were all good and wonderful until your coding started to suffer from your lack of sleep and you spent the next day correcting mistakes.

As she slipped her laptop into her bag and started bundling her things together, the sound of an overly loud motorcycle pulling up in front caught the attention of everyone in the shop.

“Kaka,” she swore. The face revealed by the black helmet was one she could have gone without.

From the corner of her eye should could make out the man–Amos–as he stood from the chair he had been occupying for the last several hours. He looked calm, but something, just underneath the surface, screamed of someone coiling themselves, ready to spring the moment it was needed. Naomi had seen few people who could prepare themselves without tipping off everyone in the room, much less who tried to hide their actions. Most were more bark than bite, too eager to show the world what they were made of.

The door opened and Cyn walked in, big smile on his face as his eyes landed on her, bag packed and in hand.

“Hoy, copeng!” He sidled up to her table and sat down, arms spread out on the chairs around him, legs spread. The picture of ease. “Thought I might find you here. Spending a little time with your Inyalowdas.” His eyes swept over the room, taking in everyone in the room and apparently satisfied with his ability to catch her unaware.

“What do you want?” Naomi stayed standing, unwilling to give him the time he obviously needed.

“What? Can’t a coyo say hello for no reason?” He shrugged his shoulders.

“Ji-ral. I know what you’re here for and you’re not getting it. Now you can go crawling back to Marco and tell him to keep to our deal and don’t let da bap hit you on the way out.”

She tightened her grip on her bag and made for the door, but Cyn stood, his hand on her arm holding her back, making her lose her grip on her bag. She winced as it hit the floor, hoping the laptop wasn’t broken beyond repair. She could feel Cyn’s breath on her neck, close enough that the moist air felt sticky and sick.

“Marco don’t like your deal anymore. Says he needs the code to shut down that back door you built into our project, and to do what’s needed to get it.” His hand tightened painfully on her arm. She’d have a nice set of bruises tomorrow.

“Dzhemang,” she spat at him. He laughed as he let her go, swinging back his arm, ready to strike.

In that moment Naomi could see Amos take a step forward, ready to step in, but she was faster, her arm flying through the air and landing squarely against Cyn’s nose.

He staggered back, clutching his nose in pain, as she rounded and planted her boot squarely between his legs. He howled in pain and sank to the floor with a howl. She bent over his form, not an ounce of guilt felt over his bloody nose.

“You don’t get to touch me without my permission, sasa ke?”

Amos walked passed her and to Cyn as the boy bled and swore, grabbing him by the scruff of his collar. “Want me to take this outside for you?”

Naomi almost laughed at the neutral look on his face, like putting battered people on the sidewalk with the trash were an everyday occurrence.

“Can’t have him bloodying up Holden’s floor.”

Amos smiled and she felt her cheeks heat at the appearance of dimples in his cheeks. She couldn’t help but smile back.

She waved to Alex and Holden as she exited the shop behind Amos and a still whimpering Cyn.

“So….” Amos turned to face her and grinned, mouth tilting to one side.

“Why didn’t you step in,” Naomi asked bluntly, curious. “I know you were ready to. What stopped you?”

Amos turned his blue eyes on her, giving her a quick look over that didn’t feel of the leering she sometimes got. “Looked like you could handle yourself. Wasn’t wrong.”

Naomi stared as he turned and walked down the sidewalk to a bike that was all well cared for chrome and leather, a bulging canvas saddlebag strapped across the back, smeared with grease.

“See you around,” She called to him before making her way to her own bike, a small smile on her face.

“Looking forward to it, Boss.” He smiled broadly, dimples appearing once again, as he started his bike and pulled away.

So am I.

 


	2. I'm Not Afraid - Bobbie/Alex - Spoilers for NG

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from @whenimaunicorn: I'm Not Afraid - Bobbie/Alex

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contains Nemesis Games spoilers pertaining to Alex's background. Proceed at own risk.

Alex doesn’t want to admit it. Doesn't want to face this part of his psyche. But he’s in the habit these days of being more honest with himself. Reflecting on his actions more. Trying to be better.

His last relationship crashed and burned, mainly due to him. He screwed it up. Sure, he wasn’t happy staying on Mars, but he’s the one who self-destructed. He’s the one who took off without so much as a second thought. He’s the one who had an affair while on duty. He’s the one who couldn’t face himself and how he felt enough to have an honest conversation with the woman he claimed to love.

And he ruined it. 

But Bobbie....Bobbie is without a doubt the best thing that has ever happened to him, bar none, and he’s terrified of how he might screw this up. 

She’s laying next to him in his small bed, arm slung over his chest as her leg wraps around his. Her eyes are closed, more relaxed than he thinks he has ever seen her, and her breathing even. 

A breath, then two, and her eyes slowly flutter open.

“Alex, go to sleep.” She closes her eyes again, slumping against him a little more. The next time they stop at Tycho they are going to refit his room to make it bigger, like Holden’s and Naomi’s, and he’s almost sad at the thought. On the one hand, a bigger bed will make for better sleeping. On the other, being crammed into one small bed has its perks. 

“In a minute,” he whispers as his fingers trail down her back.

She shifts closer before turning her entire body around to lay on her other side, facing away from him, dragging his arm around her waist as she moves. If she were anyone else he’d be picking apart her reasoning for the move, facing away from him after they’d been so intimate, but he knows her well enough by now to know how much she moves when she sleeps.

“Out with it.” Her voice is laced with sleep, but she’s on the verge of being completely awake, so he sighs and tucks himself more firmly against her, letting his lips trail over her naked shoulder. 

“Talissa.”

She hums and he can feel it vibrate through her body. “What about her?”

“I don’t-” he gives a light cough and tightens the arm around her waist. “I don’t want to ruin us like I ruined my marriage.”

A beat passes, and then another, and he’s worried that for all the talking they do, for all that they understand each other, he’s gone a touch too far. That he’s finally made her realize what a mistake it is to be involved with him. Then she moves on to her back, forcing him to the edge of the bed, and looks him dead in the eye, expression open and awake.

“You aren’t the same man you used to be, Alex.” 

He want’s to believe her so badly. But back then, he was aware, on some level, of what he was doing, how wrong it was, and yet he did it anyway. And he wants to believe he won’t do it again, but how will he ever really know for sure?

Her hand cups his jaw, thumb caressing his cheek, pulling him from his thoughts.

“You don’t have to choose between me and the Roci, Alex.” Her thumb starts tracing his lips. “I knew about Talissa from the beginning. I knew about the affair. Alex, I know _you_. I’m not afraid.” 

His heart blooms with warmth. He’s never believed in himself the way she believes in him, but he’s starting to understand that maybe he doesn’t need to as long as she is by his side, on deck with him. 

He dips his head to kiss her palm and smiles reassuringly at her. 

“I might need some remindin’ at times.” She smiles and turns back onto her side, closing her eyes as she shifts.

“Whenever you need. Just get some sleep. You need to be up in four hours and we’re nothing if our pilot hasn’t gotten enough sleep.” 

He settles onto his back and closes his eyes, enjoying the warmth of their bodies nestled together in the small bed. 

He might be afraid, but she isn’t. Somehow that’s enough for now.


	3. Don't Say a Word - Joe/Julie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from @whenimaunicorn: "Don't Say a Word"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love it if the only things I posted in this collection were long, but I want to put all my Expanse stuff in one place, so have this short prompt fill.  
> This could be AU or Canon Divergence, whichever you want. But it got me thinking about how sad it is that the Belters probably never experienced the childhood joy that was Bubbles, and I should probably write something about that sometime.

“Don’t. Say. A word.”

The words slipped from of his mouth and she had to keep herself from losing it at the sight in front of her. From keeling over and letting the laughter take over. 

Her lips twitched and he straightened, staring her down as he wiped some of the mess from his face, managing to catch the little bit hanging from the end of his nose. 

That’s when she lost it.

It really was his own damn fault. She had been raised with every luxury her parents could have given her and even she knew how to do laundry without flooding the laundry room with bubbles. Bubbles that were currently covering Miller from head to toe.

Her laughter broke free, shaking her frame and stealing her breath, her eyes tearing up. He was a disaster of a human being masquerading as a grown man. The thought had her laughing harder.

It was only the glint that developed in his eye that drew her up short, the sly smile slowly growing larger.

“Joe? What are yo-” He lunged at her, bubbles and all, and she screamed in laughter, running from the room and across their apartment. She managed to get to the bedroom before his arms closed around her waist, pulling her close to him as he rubbed his bubbly and wet hair against her neck, her cries of laughter spilling out and bouncing off the walls. “Joe!” 

He pulled his head back and placed a series of soft kisses along her neck as their laughter died down. She turned slowly in his arms and wiped his wet hair from his face, letting her thumb caress his cheek before leaning in for a kiss.

He may be a disaster, but he was her disaster, and he was getting better every day.


	4. Only If For The Night - Joe/Julie - Canon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from @whenimaunicorn on tumblr that is FINALLY getting filled. On tumblr [here.](http://nourgelitnius.tumblr.com/post/157453238570/joejoe-only-if-for-a-night)

She comes to him again that night. 

He wakes from a dream, a nightmare, where the curve of Ceres stretches out so much it disappears, is endless, and he wonders if this is what it’s like on Earth. If the people who live there feel as small as he does in that moment. If they realize how little they are able to influence the world around them. Then the darkness starts creeping in from the edges until he has been swallowed whole, fighting to breath as he drowns.

“You belong with me.” Her voice is a whisper, despite the fact that he is alone in his bunk and he’s the only one that can hear her.

“Got some things to do first.” He rubs a hand over his face, scratching a couple fingers through his growing scruff. He needs a shave. And a haircut. “But I’ll be with you soon enough.”

He expects her to disappear like she usually does after making her usual plea, but she remains. Smiling a soft smile. She was a good person. Didn’t deserve to die, especially the way she did. Alone. Suffering. Scared.

He scoots closer to the wall and pats the bed beside him. 

_She’s in your head. You don’t have to treat her like she’s really there._

She sits on the bed next to him and he imagines her weight dipping the mattress.

“You did the right thing, killing Dresden.” Her smile twitches as she lies down next to him, laying on her side to face him. “You were the only one that could have done it. He was starting to make too much sense to Fred and Holden.”

“That’s a lot of logic you’ve got for a ghost.” His voice feels gruff and he turns to face her.

“Is that what you think I am?”

She may not be a ghost, she may be in his head, but he feels haunted. Seeing her on the edge of his vision, waking to her phantom touches, the way her hair will sometimes swim around her head as if in null g. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to you in time.” Her lashes flutter against her cheek as she blinks.

“I was dead the minute I boarded the Anubis. There was nothing you could have done. You didn’t even know about me yet.” Her hand comes up, fingers brushing against his brow as if trying to push his hair off his forehead, small sparks of energy skittering across his skin. “You tried harder than anyone else. You didn’t give up.”

He can feel her, even though he knows she isn’t there. Even though he knows she can’t touch him. But she feels real, laying next to him.

“If we had ever met on Ceres, I probably would have been arresting you. Thought you were a little rich girl going for a joy ride on the wrong side of the Belt.” He closes his eyes, trying to soak in the feeling of her skin as much as he can. “You would have hated me. Hated the things I did.”

“I hated a lot of things I shouldn’t have had to hate. I hated my father, I hated Earth. I would have hated you. Not because of who you were, but because of what Ceres made you.” A soft breath brushes past his cheek and the urge to kiss this ghost is so strong he has to tighten his muscles to hold himself back. It wouldn’t be right.

“How can it not be right if I’m only in your head?” she askes, knowing his thoughts the moment he thinks them.

He blinks, taking in her form.  “Because you’re still her, even in my head.”

“I’m still me...” she agrees.

She moves forward and he almost forgets she’s not real. She feels solid underneath his reaching fingers. Warm and alive. Containing the mass of the stars in her being.

Her lips offer a resistance to his as he kisses her, molding and moving. Her fingers slip into his hair, nails trailing over his buzz cut before wrapping themselves in his longer hair, dragging a moan out of him. His whole body comes alive.

He can feel the canvas fabric of the Scopuli suit she wears, the dip of her waist and the rise and fall of her ribs. No matter what those Mormons say, this is the only salvation Miller needs. To be with her, alongside her. Devoted to her. 

Their kissing slows, their breaths ragged, and she pulls away. Her hand is still in his hair. 

“Come find me on Eros.” 

She vanishes into the air with a blink and he feels like he’s just woken up. Disoriented and confused. It wasn’t her. She wasn’t really there. 

“Soon.”


	5. Driving the Razorback - Bobbie/Alex Modern AU - NG Spoilers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from @the-roci: Was thinking of a Modern AU with Cas and Bobbie driving down the west side high way in a gifted sports car. Didn't who else to share that with. I love them so much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for Nemesis Games. On tumblr [here.](http://nourgelitnius.tumblr.com/post/151036209325/was-thinking-of-a-modern-au-with-cas-and-bobbie)

Bobbie doesn’t know what to do with the car she’s been given, but knows Alex would love to take it for a drive. He’s been driving and flying for so long, she doesn’t know who else would appreciate it as much as he would. So she offers to let him drive it to dinner and watches as he gives a slow whistle and starts caressing the older car. Sure she hasn’t seen much of him in the last couple of years, but she should have known he would have this reaction. 

And it glides under his hand. Every lane change and curve is handled like silk. The wind is blowing through her hair (well, as much as it can blow through her tight functional bun) and he’s taken off his tuque to let his curls fly, fluffing up the longer they drive. Bobbie knows it will be a mess when they finally park, but for now, he looks a little wild, glasses on and his smile wide as he yeehaws through another lane change. 

When they pull off the highway to make it to the restaurant she had heard about from Chrisjen, things are a lot quieter and they get the chance to talk more, whispering in the quiet of the stop lights, and smiling as they tell stories about their lives. 

The bar they sit at in the restaurant isn’t much louder, despite the time of evening they arrive, so the talking continues. Sitting close enough that their legs sometimes touch, but not close enough that they can’t both enjoy their meal. 

She gets the feeling that if they had been outside of the city she would have loved to find an outcropping and parked. Not for the usual reason (the thought of doing that drawing the smallest blush, a feeling creeping around the edges of her mind in a way she hasn’t felt for a long time) but to listen to him talk for hours. About his life, about the Roci crew, about the things he’s seen. And she would reveal herself in turn, feeling like she could tell him anything without judgment.


	6. Cowboy - Bobbie/Alex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> @whenimaunicorn asked: Bobbie x Alex "Cowboy". On tumblr [here.](http://nourgelitnius.tumblr.com/post/159021804610/bobbie-x-alex-cowboy)

“Wait, so you’re telling me,” Bobbie turned around in her seat on the deck to get a better look at Alex as he double checked their route was free and clear, “that most cowboys were gay?”

Alex chuckled. He always loved sharing that bit of history with people who hadn’t grown up in the Mariner Valley. 

“Or Bi or Pan, yeah.”

“Wasn’t that not allowed at the time? What century was that?”

“The good ol’ nineteenth. They were still pretty closed-minded at the time, but who could stop them from doing what they wanted on a five hundred mile run out in the middle of the boonies with only themselves and the cows for company?”

Bobbie chuckled as she turned back into her seat. “How do you even know this?”

“When I was a kid one of my neighbors loved old Cowboy poetry. Used to read it to his husband while he was sick. Ma would send me over with the groceries when they were having a bad day. I’d sit and listen for a while before headin’ home for chores.”

Bobbie couldn’t help the soft aww that escaped her. The image of a child version of Alex, sweet eyes and big smile, that Mariner Valley drawl coming through loud and clear, learning about the cowboy’s of Earth while avoiding chores, was endearing.

“Used t’ love hearin’ about cowboys. Even begged my mom for one of those cowboy hats for my birthday. Wore it every day for a couple years until my head got too big.”

They bother erupted into laughter as Bobbie stood up from her seat, giving her back a stretch as she started for the stairs.

“Did you have one of those little vests as well?”

Alex smirked, an evil glint coming to his eye. “Nah, but I did have a fine pair of chaps. Grew out of them, too.” He gave his eyebrows a suggestive wiggle.

Bobbie let her hand graze over his shoulder as she walked by, humming to herself. She stepped behind his chair and let her hands follow the chairs straps down his chest, bringing her lips close to his ear as he turned to try to get a look at her.

“Maybe it’s time to get another pair, yeah?”

She could hear his stumbled gasps as she backed away and climbed down the stairs to get herself a bulb of something sweet and cold from the mess.

Yeah, she thought, definitely going to need something cold.

**Author's Note:**

> Come see me in my [trashcan](http://www.nourgelitnius.tumblr.com) if you're so inclined.


End file.
